Cooke Sacks Television Report That He's Selling The Redskins

August 01, 1989|By WARNER HESSLER Staff Writer

CARLISLE — Owner Jack Kent Cooke of the Washington Redskins visited his team's training camp Monday afternoon and denied rumors he planned to sell the team and his sprawling Virginia farm in Middleburg.

"I'm crazy about Virginia, I chose to live there and I have no plans to leave there," he said.

A Washington television station recently reported that Cooke planned to sell the Redskins to Texas oilman John Cullinan and move to Lexington, Ky.

"I have a house in Lexington and other places, but Virginia is my home."

And he made it clear the Redskins were his team, and would continue to be.

"That's bloody nonsense about me selling the Redskins," he said. "If somebody offered me $250 million, or even $500 million, I'm not interested. I've made enough money in my life and I don't need to make money by selling my team."

Forbes Magazine lists Cooke as one of the wealthiest men in America and the second richest owner in the National Football League behind Edward DeBartolo Jr. of San Francisco.

Cooke said he hopes to break ground in five or sixth months on a new, 75,000-seat stadium in Washington. Cooke said the stadium, which he would finance, will be located near the 28-year-old RFK Stadium in downtown Washington.

"We can't continue to be confined by a 54,000-seat stadium that was built for baseball. `We play in an important city and we should have the finest, state of the art stadium in America."